| Sunday, April 6, 2014 Cat Cay Quotes Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of Princess of Sylmar (No. 3): "She has become a little more prominent early in races than she was. We saw that for the first time in the Beldame. She's so adaptable. If they go slow, she can be closer now, and if they go fast, she can settle. It was ideal, what we were hoping for. Good to see her back."
"With the way she had been training she indicated she's as good as ever. We were expecting a good performance. I thought for this type of race it came up pretty tough. [Wedding Toast] is a very good filly. We feel like we had her ready to run well, but we tried not to overdo it. It's a long season, and there are bigger goals ahead." "The next, immediate goal is going to be the Ogden Phipps [Grade 1, $1 million] on Belmont Day [June 7]. We'll see after that, but I think races like the Delaware Handicap are a possibility, the Personal Ensign, the Beldame. Those are the type of races we're looking at right now. I think she runs well fresh. One thing with her we're always trying to be aware of is keeping her weight up. It's a long season, and, considering she runs as well as she does fresh, [there is] no need for a prep in between." Javier Castellano, winning jockey aboard Princess of Sylmar (No. 3): "I liked the way she did it today. Very professional, as always. The pace set up for her well. One thing she did well today was split horses through that narrow hole and went right by those horses very nicely. That was phenomenal. She was much the best. She was more settled and very classy in the post parade. Mentally and physically, Todd did a great job bringing her back." Ed Stanco of King of Prussia Stable, winning owner of Princess of Sylmar (No. 3): "[Going in] I thought it was a hard race. It's a shorter race, her first race back is always very difficult, and it was a legitimate race with [Wedding Toast] and the others. If she showed us something, if she showed some form, even if she didn't get there, that would be great, and she went right by. "Today was beyond my expectations. By giving her the time off, she got bigger, gained weight, 150 pounds, I think. Javier said she's right back in her form. This was what we were looking for. She didn't have to have a breakthrough performance today, just show us form and that you want it. My biggest concern today, for me, anyway, was the fact that when they go from 3 to 4 sometimes they might not have the interest. Today she showed it, which is great. That should set us up for some fun this summer." Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, of runner-up Wedding Toast (No. 6): "We were second-best today. We were happy with the way she ran. It was a good start for the year." |
